The inaugural Talentbank Boardroom Challenge has crowned its first champions. This milestone marks a pivotal step forward in Malaysia’s mission to close the education-to-employment gap.
Three winning student teams presented forward-thinking solutions that could redefine how universities prepare graduates for the evolving world of work.
By good fortune, The Challenge has quickly become one of Malaysia’s most impactful student innovation platforms.
From Wild Imagination to Masterpiece Creation: Challenge for The Chosen One
Industry mentors guided each team, representing universities nationwide, to turn academic ideas into practical, scalable solutions. Their work directly addresses the country’s persistent skills mismatch.
The grand finale took place at the Talentbank Boardroom in Kuala Lumpur, where the Top 15 Finalists pitched to a panel of judges from Talentbank:
- Ben Ho, Chief Executive Officer
- Muhammad Fadilah, Director of Government & University Liaison
- Li Kiat, Director of Employer Liaison
Ben Ho emphasised the significance of the initiative in driving meaningful change to improve graduate employability.
“The Talentbank Boardroom Challenge is especially powerful because the solutions come directly from the students, the real ‘users’ of the education and employability ecosystem. They understand the challenges first-hand and are unafraid to share honest, ground-level insights. By listening to their perspectives, we can inspire policymakers and industry leaders to create more relevant, future-ready pathways for Malaysia’s graduates.” –Ben Ho, Chief Executive Officer.
Talentbank awarded certificates of achievement to all finalists and will distribute their CVs to leading employers within its network.
Additionally, Talentbank will consider teams demonstrating exceptional talent and a shared passion for driving positive change for career opportunities.
Talentbank will evaluate ideas with strong commercial potential for seed funding support or integrate them into its existing talent ecosystem.
Shine the Brightest at The Top
Luckily, the Top 3 teams will be specially invited to attend the 2025 Graduates’ Choice Award Gala, known as APAC’s most authoritative graduate employer branding award.
This prestigious celebration will be attended by representatives from the Ministry of Higher Education. Moreover, the event will also bring together over 1,000 leaders from multinational corporations and university partners.
Fortunately, this exclusive invitation offers them a rare opportunity to connect with top industry decision-makers. It also gives them real-world exposure at one of Malaysia’s most influential employability events.
Building on its success, the Talentbank Boardroom Challenge 2.0 will return in 2026 with an expanded focus on education, employability, and university–industry collaboration.
Talentbank will soon begin engaging with the winning teams to incubate and refine their ideas, integrating them into the existing employability solutions to create tangible impact.
Through this process, they aim to help these young innovators turn their ideas into ventures and take the next step towards realising their entrepreneurship dreams.
The Closure
The initiative creates a four-way win for everyone involved. It empowers students with entrepreneurial experience and strengthens universities through innovation.
Furthermore, it also supports Ministries in driving national talent development while enabling Talentbank to further its mission of bridging education and employment.
Students interested in joining the next challenge can register their interest at boardroomchallenge.io.
